Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Lewis Wolpert

WHY do we touch wood? Or believe in the supernatural? Humans have a basic need for beliefs. This topic is fertile ground for biologist and writer Lewis Wolpert, whose illuminating new book explores the nature of belief – religious, false, scientific, paranormal – and its causes. Wolpert argues that inventiveness is the root of belief&colon; regions of the human brain responsible for believing arose as a result of complex toolmaking. Not everyone will agree, but if you want to know why many people ignore rational scientific explanations in favour of mysticism, this book is for you.